I will get to the Warriors’ continued world domination in a minute. First, let’s go back to last summer, during the initial days after the Rockets wrapped Chris Paul in red.

It was a brilliant move and a classic Daryl Morey stunner. But it was also the era of superstars forming superteams, which was why I wrote then that as impressive as CP3 to the Rockets was, the franchise had to do more.

I soon received a little good-natured grief from a widely respected NBA executive.

Do more? After stealing Paul from Los Angeles?

The mission-critical additions of P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah A Moute followed, Nene was re-signed, and Gerald Green eventually began promoting Houston history on a nightly basis.

The Rockets didn’t set a franchise record with 65 victories because of James Harden’s perfect pairing with Paul. They produced the best regular season in team history — and came one good half away from the NBA Finals — because Morey put together the strongest and most diverse roster of his career.

The heat is on

Now, let’s return to the already blazing NBA summer of 2018.

LeBron James is suddenly in La La Land. Golden State brilliantly added All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to a championship squad already featuring four other All-Stars and did it on the cheap ($5.3 million).

The Rockets? They kept Paul in red, promising their floor leader $160 million over four years. They also re-signed Green to a team-friendly deal, then added not-so sharpshooter Michael Carter-Williams.

Not bad.

But again, not enough.

Clint Capela’s expected return normally would allow the Rockets to break even. Almost good enough to reach the Finals in 2017-18? Then, the theory goes, nearly the same team in 2018-19 should again be able to push the Warriors to the limit.

But Trevor Ariza went for the big money to lose in the desert. James shook up the NBA and stacked the Western Conference even higher with another league-altering decision. Cousins joining Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green by the Bay the summer after the Warriors won their third world championship in four years?

The Rockets have work to do.

If you get it — and I mean really get it — you already know the obvious. The Harden-Paul Rockets are sick of second place. The Beard has an MVP but has never won a title. CP3 reached the conference finals for the first time last season, then couldn't take the court in games 6 and 7. And while Harden reached the Finals back in his younger Oklahoma City days, 67-year-old Mike D’Antoni still has never guided a team on the NBA’s ultimate stage and fell painfully short at the end of May.

Morey rightfully received a lot of attention last year by publicly stating he was obsessed with overcoming the Warriors. He’s really obsessed with winning a title. His previous confession was also issued before Golden State won its second straight, then added a mercurial stat monster who unleashed an absurd 44-point, 23-rebound, 10-assist outing in January.

Cousins’ full, lasting recovery from an Achilles’ injury obviously precedes the NBA’s blindly handing the 2018-19 trophy to the (even more ridiculous) superpower from the Bay. Draymond Green and “Boogie” — two of the most unlikable athletes in the Association if you’re a devoted fan of any of the league’s 29 other teams — making it through a full season in perfect harmony could also be a minor challenge.

But if Golden State eventually catches fire and the Warriors dominate the basketball world like “NBA Jam” in real life?

It’s 99.9 percent impossible to imagine the Rockets winning their first title since 1995, even with Capela remaining in red.

One objective

This is all about a championship. Not player development. Not building off a very good year. Not being off to a pretty good start during free agency.

A championship. That’s it.

This is the time of James winning it all in Miami and Cleveland, then taking his talents to L.A. This is an era when the Warriors win an NBA-record 73 of 82 games, then add Durant and Cousins while the rest of the league balances respect with jealousy and envy.

I read way too many bitter, furious, “I’m never watching the NBA again” tweets in the last 24 hours.

You didn’t watch when James joined the Heat or Durant chose Golden State over OKC?

Right.

The Rockets, again, will be worth your time all season. They’re also one of the few teams in the league that, again, actually has a chance at dethroning the overloaded Warriors.

Brian T. Smith is a sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle. He has won multiple Associated Press Sports Editors awards and been honored by numerous journalism organizations. Smith was a Houston Texans beat writer for the Chronicle from 2013-15 and an Astros beat writer from 2012-13. The New Orleans-area native previously covered the NBA's Utah Jazz (The Salt Lake Tribune) and Portland Trail Blazers (The Columbian), among other beats. He is the author of the book Liftoff, which documented the Astros' rebuild and 2017 World Series championship.